ESPN star Stephen A. Smith teed off on President Biden for one aspect of his decision to pardon his son, Hunter, weeks before he’s set to leave the White House.
Biden announced the pardon Sunday after the first son was convicted in two separate federal cases this year. The pardon applied to offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.
The ESPN sports pundit opened the latest episode of "The Stephen A. Smith Show" on Monday night by jumping right into the president’s sudden decision.
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"Respectfully, to the president of the United States, specifically as it pertains to that statement, you’re full of it," he said. "I’m going to look right here, over the national airwaves, and look the president of the United States in the face and say, ‘You’re full of it.’"
Smith explained he had no problem with Biden not wanting his son to go to jail and was adamant that President-elect Donald Trump would have done the same for his sons.
"I said weeks ago, you’re damn right you should let him off. He’s your son, and he’s a recovering addict, and he’s battled those demons for years," Smith said. "And the fact that you let your son off, I totally understand. Donald Trump would have let his son off. Anybody would have, or at least most people. I understand that. That’s not the issue, sir.
"The issue, and why I say you’re full of it, is because of the excuse you gave. A simple statement, ‘That’s my son. I have the power to pardon him, to grant him clemency, whatever. That’s what I’m doing. You all kick rocks.’ That would have been good enough for me. That’s your son. That’s your son, that’s your flesh and blood. That’s your child. And as you pointed out, he’s battled a lot of demons. He’s going through a lot. I get it. But what’s all of that other stuff you said about him?"
Biden said in his statement he believed his son was "treated differently" in those cases he was convicted in.
"The charges in his cases came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election," the president said. "Then, a carefully negotiated plea deal, agreed to by the Department of Justice, unraveled in the court room – with a number of my political opponents in Congress taking credit for bringing political pressure on the process. Had the plea deal held, it would have been a fair, reasonable resolution of Hunter’s cases.
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"No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong. There has been an effort to break Hunter – who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me – and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough."
Smith dismissed the notion that Hunter Biden was targeted because of the president and took issue with him issuing the pardon now, after the election, after months of talking about Trump and his trials, tribulations and convictions in the months leading up to the election.
"You didn’t talk about this then. As a matter of fact, you specifically said you wouldn’t pardon your son … before the election. You’re announcing it now that we know Donald Trump is coming in and about to be sworn in as the 47th president. You were intending to do this all along, which again is no problem. But it doesn’t make you any less full of it," he said.
"Because when you look at Donald Trump and how the Democrats went after him … you do understand the Democrats are no longer in a position to say anything, right? You can talk till the cows come home. You whistling into the wind. Nobody wants to hear what you have to say right now. I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about your party.
"Because when you pardon your son, going back on your word, telling the American people there was no way you were going to pardon him, when everybody and your grand mama knew you were lying and didn’t hold you accountable for it. And now you’ve confirmed what people believed you were probably going to be lying about that very thing that you said you wouldn’t do for your son. All you had to do was say, ‘He’s my son. I can’t let him go to jail.' What’s the matter with y’all?"
In a statement on Sunday night, Hunter said he would "never take the clemency" his father gave him for granted and that he plans to devote his life to helping those with addiction.
"I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction – mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport," the first son wrote.
"In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages. In recovery we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the mercy that we have been afforded."
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